Architecture and Artifice: The Crafted Surface in Eighteenth-Century Building Practice

The materials and craftsmanship that shaped the look of eighteenth-century architecture in Britain and Ireland

This book uncovers the overlooked material practices that were crucial to architectural production in the eighteenth century. Centred on the architecture of England and Ireland, it examines the facing materials that define the distinctive character of cities and regions.

Focusing on the final stages of construction—the external façade and interior finishes in stone, plaster, and wood—Architecture and Artifice combines archival research with insights from architectural conservation to reveal the hidden techniques behind these structures. It explores the lives of craftsmen, uncovering the unwritten standards that guided their work, and argues for the agency of materials and craft in shaping the meanings of eighteenth-century buildings.

Featuring a cast of lesser-known craftsmen alongside new perspectives on such iconic structures as Chatsworth, the Cambridge Senate House, and Dublin’s Parliament House, the book introduces a wealth of previously unpublished archival material and uncovers the processes and people behind the era’s most enduring buildings.

Distributed for the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art